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MEMOllIAL. 

To THE Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of 
THE State of Ohio. 

The undersigned, members of the Ohio Committee of Correspond- 
ence of the American Colonization Society, respectfully ask leave to 
represent : ^"' 

That during the last session of the Legislature of Ohio, memorials were 
presented, asking for pecuniary aid, from the State, to pay the expense 
of the emigration of her colored people, who might determine to remove, 
to Liberia. These memorials were signed by a respectable number of 
the citizens of the State, and nearly unanimously by the clergymen who 
had been in attendance, during the preceding year, upon the Confer- 
ences, Synods, and Conventions of several of the largest religious 
denominations in the State. Upon this expression of the public will 
being presented to the Legislature, a Bill was passed by the lower House, 
making an appropriation for the object proposed ; but it was postponed 
by the Senate among its untinished business, and we have, in conse- 
quence, been left without adequate funds to execute our plans. We 
have, therefore, been driven to the necessity of renewing our application 
for aid ; and in doing this we respectfully ask your attention to the con- 
sideration of the history of events which have transpired, in connection 
with our operations, during the two last years. 

L In the month of May, 1850, President Roberts, of Liberia, an- 
nounced the purchase of a large tract of land, on the coast of Africa, 
which, by the terms of the treaties made with the kings and chiefs, was 
immediately annexed to that Republic. The funds to make this purchase 
were supplied by the following gentlemen, viz : 

Charles M'Mickejj, Esq., of Cincinnati, $5 000. 

Solomon Sturges, Esq., of Putnam, Ohio, 1 000. 

Samuel Gurney, Esq., of London, 5 000. 

A legacy was also left for this object, the amount of which we have not 
yet learned. 

The scheme of purchasing additional territory in Africa, beyond the 
limits of Liberia, was first projected in this State, early in 1848,'with the 
view of forming a colony of colored people from Ohio, at some point 
most advantageous to the settlers, and where they might most effectually 
aid in checking and suppressing the slave trade. The necessary fund's 
to pay for such a tract, were offered by Mr. McMicken, and the Agent 
for Ohio was authorized by him to adopt the necessary measures for car- 
rying out the design. The territory northwest of Liberia, including the 
Gallinas, being the nearest point, im the coast, to Brazil, was known to 



2 Memorial. 

be the most active seat of the traffic in slaves. Attention was, there- 
fore, directed to it, by Rev. Wm. McLain, Secretary of the Colonization 
Society, as most suitable for the purposes had in view. The whole 
space northwest from the line of Liberia to Sierra Leone, includes about 
200 miles of coast. When President Roberts visited England, in the 
autumn of 1848, Mr. Gurney pledged $5,000, on condition that this entire 
space should be bought, so as to leave no loop-hole, on all that coast, for 
the entrance of slave-trading vessels. On the return of the President to 
Liberia,he found the chiefs indisposed to sell, and demanding exorbitant 
prices for their lands. This state of feeling was engendered by their 
being under the influence of the slave traders, and from their unwilling- 
ness to give up the traffic in slaves. But the object to be accomplished 
was so important that it was resolved, at whatever cost, to effect the 
purchase. 

The President also found, on his return from Europe, that at New 
Cesters, a district East of Monrovia, which had been purchased on the 
eve of his leaving home, the slave traders had determined to remain, and 
had armed the natives to aid them in resisting the authorities of Liberia. 
The honor of the government, and the cause of humanity, both demanded 
prompt action, and he immediately proceeded to raise sufficient troops to 
dislodge them. By an arrangement made with the governments of Eng- 
land and France, their naval vessels on that coast were placed at his dis- 
posal, and he had all necessary facilities afforded for the transportation 
of the troops. They set sail on March 6th, 1849, and succeeded, after a 
short and severe conflict, in dispersing the native army, releasing the 
captive slaves, and breaking up the traffic in that district. 

About the middle of February, 1849, the British squadron, in obe- 
dience to orders, proceeded to the district northwest of Liberia, to break 
up the establishments at Gallinas, and other points, up as far as the 
line of Sierra Leone. The commanders succeeded in destroying the 
barracoons, and in releasing many hundred slaves collected for exporta- 
tion ; and then blockaded all the trading points, on that part of the 
coast, to prevent the return of the slave-trading vessels. The supplies of 
necessaries being thus cut off from the population, the chiefs were forced to 
come to terms and sell their lands to Liberia. But this blockade had to 
be continued about fifteen months before the purchase could be effected, 
and the expense to England cannot have been much short of $200,000. 

The funds pledged by Messrs. McMicken and Gurney, being on condi- 
tion that the purchase should first be made, were paid as soon as that 
fact was announced. The donation of Mr. Sturges was made at an 
earlier day, and was unconditional. 

By this purchase, not only has the slave trade been broken up in the 
region between Sierra Leone and Liberia, but the laws of that Republic, 
being extended over it, have emancipated, probably, near 70,000 slaves, 
formerly held as the property of the headmen. 

Too much praise cannot be awarded to Great Britain, for the profuse 
liberality manifested in the accomplishment of this great work. The 
destruction of the slave trade in this " its darkest den," must exert an 
influence over the tribes far into the interior of Africa. Those heretofore 
constantly warring upon each other, to secure slaves to sell at the coast, 
deprived of their market, will lose this principal stimulus to the perpetu- 
ation of their savage barbarities, and become more accessible to the influ- 
ence of the messengers of peace. Indeed, these effects seem to have been 
very fully produced, during the period of the British blockade, "n the region 
lying in the rear of the purchased tt-rritory. This is evident from the fact, 



Memorial. 3 

that when the Rev. Mr. Raymond reached Kaw-Mendi, in charge of the 
" Amistad Africans," about ten years ago, he found wars prevailing so 
extensively, everywhere among the surrounding tribes, that he could not 
reach the Mendi country, to which these people had belonged, and was 
forced to settle at Kaw-Mendi. We learn, from the published report of 
Rev. George Thompson, for two years past at the head of that station, 
that, for more than a year after his arrival, these wars continued with 
unabated cruelty ; and that, while they prevailed, whole towns had been 
depopulated and multitudes driven to the coast and sold to the slave tra- 
ders. Mr. Thompson, like his predecessors, had been greatly hindered, 
by these wars, in his efforts to instruct and benefit the people. But the 
establishment of the blockade, in February 1849, prevented the export 
of any more slaves, and of course destroyed the market. This would 
soon tell upon the interior settlements. Accordingly, on the 13th of 
March, 18.50, about thirteen months from the commencement of the 
blockade, we find that Mr. Thompson, after having settled the wars 
among the tribes around him, set out upon a mission of peace, a distance 
into the interior of 300 miles by water ; and that he was everywhere 
eminently successful in putting an end to the sanguinary conflicts which 
had so long, and so frequently, brought desolation and death upon many 
generations of men. 

The letter of Mr. Thompson, stating his success in making peace, is 
dated on the 17th May, 1850, far up the Big Boom river. On the same 
day. President Roberts wrote from Monrovia, announcing that he had 
succeeded in the purchase of Gallinas and the other tracts up as far as 
Shebar, the British line; and that by these purchases the natives were 
forever bound not to engage in the slave trade, and the Liberians to send 
commissioners to settle the wars among the tribes of that region. In 
this object, recent letters state, that the commissioners have been suc- 
cessful, except with one body of refugees from the barracoons, who refused 
to be reconciled to their old captors. The President, however, is not 
discouraged at this event, but expects to find them willing to make 
peace, when they learn that the laws of Liberia place them on an equality 
with all other classes around them. 

The results of the blockade, and of the purchase of this territory, thus 
far, it will be seen, have been of the most gratifying character. 

But there is still danger, unless a few hundred families are settled at 
the several trading points, where vessels can approach the coast, that the 
Liberians will have trouble in preventing the occurrence of dissensions 
among the native tribes, and the occasional shipment of slaves. This 
fear is greatly strengthened by recent intelligence from Liberia : Presi- 
dent Roberts writes, that since the blockading squadron has been with- 
drawn, a slave trader has made an unsuccessful attempt to renew the 
traffic with the chiefs at Gallinas. It is of the utmost importance, 
therefore, that a speedy colonization of this territory be made. About 
one-half of the country purchased, it is expected, will be set apart for 
the emigrants from Ohio, on the plan of Mr. McMicken, and constitute 
one of the counties of the republic of Liberia, to be called Ohio. The 
settlement of a colony at Gallinas, it will be seen, is indispensable to 
prevent a return of the slave traders. As our emigrants are expected to 
settle at Gallinas, the responsibility of preventing a renewal of the slave 
trade, in that region, devolves upon Ohio; and as sufficient funds to 
accomplish this work cannot be obtained from individual contributions, 
our appeal must be to you, to put us in possession of the means of hast- 
ening the emigration as much as possible. 



4 Memorial, 

II. There are some colored persons in Ohio, who have determined to 

leave for Liberia, in the vessel to sail from New Orleans, on the 20th 
inst. Others are preparing to follow, in the course of the year, if the 
funds can be obtained to meet their expenses ; and many more are inves- 
tigating the subject, and will soon decide upon the course they will 
pursue. Their decision will be greatly influenced by the arrangements 
made to secure the comfortable condition of the emigrants after reaching 
Africa. It is the intention of all who are preparing to emigrate, to settle 
upon the territory secured by Mr. McMicken, and to build up an Ohio for 
themselves. Those who are leaving at present, are well educated 
and enterprising young men. It is necessary, in commencing our 
colony, that sufficient funds should be placed in the hands of the Ameri- 
can Colonization Society, to enable us, through President Roberts and 
our piotieers, to make all necessary arrangements for the comfortable 
settlement of our future emigrants. And, in reference to this point, we 
would remark, tha,t the friends of colonization, profiting by past experi- 
ence, are contemplating the erection of houses and planting of crops, in 
Liberia, for the use of new emigrants, in advance of their arrival. This, 
certainly, would be an important step in the v/ork of forming new set- 
tlements on the coast of Africa, and would remove one of the strongest 
objections to emigration, on tht part of those comfortably situated here. 
Such liberal provision for emigrants, as this plan contemplates, would 
only be necessary during the first few years of the existence of our new 
stations, but in their origin seems to be indispensable. The additional 
cost to which we would be subjected, would be a small matter, indeed, 
compared with the advantages that would be secured. Judge Benson, 
of Liberia, says, that a comfortable, weather-boarded house, for one family, 
and the planting of an acre of ground in vegetables, will cost $120. 
He considers a house of this kind much more healthy than the common 
$40 open log buildings, heretofore erected by emigrants. The cost of the 
passage out, for each emigrant, and his after support for six months, with 
medical attention if sick, is $50. These two items of expense being 
stated, it is easy to estimate the funds needed for an emigrating party. 

III. It cannot any longer be denied, that emigration to Liberia, is not 
only a certain means of securing to the colored man all the social and 
political rights which he so ardently longs to possess, but that it will 
also gain for the industrious emigrant, all that happiness which wealth 
can bestow. The soil of Liberia is so fertile, and the native exportable 
products now existing upon it, and that may be cultivated, are so abun- 
dant, that skill and enterprise are sure of a rich recompense. The pro- 
gress of events in the commercial world are demonstrating, with great 
clearness, that this view of the coming prosperity of Liberia, is not the 
product of an over-excited imagination, under the influence of a benevo- 
lent enthusiasm. The increase in the production of coflee and cotton, 
throughout the world, is no longer equal to their increasing consumption, 
and the consequent advance in the price of these articles must make 
their cultivation in Liberia a source of great profit to its citizens. Its 
soil produces both in great perfection, and England, the greatest manu- 
facturer of cotton in the world, has already turned her attention to that 
quarter, to make up the deficit in her supplies of that article. President 
Roberts, in a letter of July 10th, 1850, says, that an Agent of the British 
manufacturers was then visiting the settlements of Liberia, in charge 
of two vessels, laden w"ith cotton seeds, cotton gins, and agricultural 
implements for the cultivation of cotton, and was desirous of making 



Memorial. 6 

extensive arrangements, with the citizens, for its production. Rev. 
George Thompson, of Kaw-Mendi, which lies to the northwest of Liberia, 
forty miles from the coast, also spea.ks confidently of the practicability of 
producinfr sugar and cotton in tliat region ; and since he has succeeded 
in establishing peace, as before stated, is urgently pleading for aid to 
introduce their cultivation among the natives. We learn that Mr. Thomp- 
son has recently arrived in tliis country, to plead, personally, for aid to 
enable him to carry out, more fully and rapidly, the plans he has laid to 
dispel the moral gloom overshadowing the field of his labors, and to give 
CO that part of Africa a Christian civilization. 

Mr. Thompson's opinions in relation to the healthiness of Africa, can- 
not but make a favorable impression upon our colored i>eople. They ail 
know him as a devoted abolitionist, and as having incurred heavy pen- 
alties by his early zeal in the anti-slavery cause. Since Liberia has 
become independent, the principal objection to emigration is on account 
of th-e supposed unhealthiness of the climate. But 3Ir. Thompson's 
statements, on that subject, flatly contradict the oft-repeated declarations 
of the opponents of Colonization, and more than sustain the opinions of 
Dr. Lugenbeel, late Colonial Physician and U. S. Agent in Liberia, who 
has recently prepared a tract, giving the results of his six years' pi-actice 
in that Republic. Mr. Thompson expresses the belief that men may 
settle in Africa with as little loss of life as did tlie early settlers of New- 
England ; and says, he sees no natural cause of sickness there, any more 
than in any uncultivated country ; and can see no reason why it would 
not be as healthy a country as any, when once cleared up. 

With all these facts before us, we cannot but believe, that our colored 
people will not be long in discovering that Liberia is the true field for 
their intellectual, moral, social, and political elevation, and that we must 
soon stand prepared to meet a strong tide of emigration to the New 
Republic. 

In conclusion, we would beg leave to remind you, that, as a free and 
humane people, desiring to promote human freedom and happiness, w'e 
are deeply interested in the promotion of industry in Liberia, and in the 
speedy development of its resources. This is made apparent, by refer- 
ence to one, only, of the many articles grown in that country, which are, 
at present, largely consumed by us. VVe refer to Coffee. In 1848 we 
imported 151,4U0,00O lbs. of that article, of which 114,250,000 lbs. were 
the product of slave labor, sustained direcilij by the. slave trade, in Cuba and 
Brazil ; and such is the present condition of our commerce, and of the 
cultivation of Coffee throughout the world, that we nuist continue indebted 
to these countries, to this extent, until the free labor of Liberia can 
supply our wants. 

But this view of the Coffee question, is not the only one in which the 
people of Ohio are interested. The increased consiunption of Coffee, 
has so far gained upon and exceeded its production, that the old stocks 
on hand have been consumed, and a deficit has occurred in the supplies, 
to an extent which has advanced its price to nearly double what it has 
been for many years past. This deficit might have been prevented, had 
a liberal and enlightened policy been pursued toward Liberia. The case 
is an extremely plain one. At the close of 1849, the crop of that year 
was found to be 42(),000,000 lbs, and the old stocks left over from 1*848, 
amounted to 1,34,000,000 lbs. The consumption of 1850, taking that 
of preceding years as data, would retpiire (iSO.OOO.OOO lbs., thus leaving 
the supply sliort of the demand by 70,000,000 lbs. For 1851 there 



6 Memorial. 

would be no old stocks lying over, and as the crop of 1850 might not 
exceed that of 1849, the supplies, it was perceived, would be short of the 
demand by 200,000,000 lbs. It was the anticipation of this deficit that 
has caused the price to advance. An extra production of 200,000,- 
000 lbs., it is plain, Vv-ould have kept up the supply, and prevented an 
advance of price. Had there been planted, six years ago, in Liberia, 
133^ coffee farms, oi 1,000 acres each, with the usual proportion of 300 
trees to the acre, estimating the product at only five pounds to the tree, 
we should now annually be su[)plied with the necessary amount of 200,- 
000,000 lbs. of coffee from that Republic. That European and American 
capital, could have put under cultivation one hundred and thirty-three such 
coffee plantations in Liberia, none can doubt. There are many single 
individuals, in both countries, who could have done* it. The funds, neces- 
sary to execute the task, would have been a mere trifle, compared with 
the losses the world is sustaining by not, at an earlier day, giving suffi- 
cient encouragement to the industry of Liberia. 

Allow us, for a moment, to direct your attention to the amount of loss 
the people of the United States, but particularly those of Ohio, are sus- 
taining, in consequence of the short-sighted policy that has been pursued 
toward Liberia, and the extent to which an equal sum, if now properly 
applied, would tend to relieve us from the embarrassing position we 
occupy, — not only in relation to our supplies of coffee, but to that of one 
of the most exciting questions in the politics of the country. 

The annual consumption of Coffee by the United States, according to 
the best authorities, is now 170,000,000 pounds. It formerly cost us, 
say, 6 cts. per pound, and is now worth 12 cts. This is near enough the 
actual facts for our present purpose. The population of Ohio is 
nearly one-tenth of the whole population of the United States. An 
advance of 6 cts. per pound on Coffee, is a tax upon the people of 
the United States, of $10,200,000 annually, and upon Ohio, one-tenth 
of this sum, or $1,020,000. 

Now, let us see what might be done with an amount of funds equal to 
this tax. The annual increase of colored people in the United States, 
North and South, at present, is 70,000, and the whole colored population 
of Ohio, not over 30,000. The cost, at -$50 each, for the removal of the 
former number, would be $3,500,000, and of the latter, $1,500,000. So, 
then, the tax paid b)' the people, in consequence of the advance in the 
price of Coffee, amounts to a sum, every ticelve months, for the whole 
Union, sufficient to remove to Liberia nearly three times the numher of the 
annual increase of all the colored people in the country ; and for Ohio, in each 
sixteen months, this tax reaches a sum more than sufficient to remove the 
whole colored population in the Slate. If, therefore, the people of Ohio, 
through their Legislature, will give to the Colonization Society, for a 
period of only two years, the amount of the additional tax they are pay- 
ing for Coffee, the sum would be amply sufficient to pay for the erection 
of dwellings and planting of crops, and the cost of the passage out to 
our Ohio in Africa, of all the colored people in the State. 

We refer to this tax upon Coffee, to illustrate the ease with which the 
expense of the emigration of our colored population could be paid, and 
the people be almost unconscious of the burden imposed ; and with the 
view, also, of showing that the people of Ohio have a direct interest in 
promoting Colonization to Africa. There are a number of lots of ground 
planted in Coffee, in Liberia, from which small quantities have been 
exported. The sooner the amount grown is multiplied to the extent 
named above, the sooner will we be relieved from the present tax. It is 



Memorial. 7 

true, however, that no one feels himself greatly burdened by this tax, 
and it is for this very reason that we would urge the adoption of mea- 
sures to be relieved from it ; because the amount necessary to colonize 
all our colored people, will not be felt a whit more than the tax on 
Coffee, and as a hundredth part of that sum, yearly, Would be sufficient in 
the outset, the burden imposed, we are persuaded, would be most cheerfully 
borne by the iieople : when, at the same time, they would have the satis- 
faction of knowing, that it conferred the blessings of civilization upon 
millions of their fellow-men. 

In view, then, of the important bearings of Colonization upon our- 
selves, upon our colored people, and upon Africa, we ask for an appro- 
priation of funds, to such an amount as, in your judgment, the merit 
of the work in which we are engaged demands. Nor would we desire to 
limit, to our own favorite point, the application of the means you may 
supply, but would plead for equal aid to promote emigration to any of the 
settlements on the coast of Africa, as all tending to the same grand 
results. And in thus approaching you, we do not feel that we are asking 
an expenditure of money for an unusual purpose. We need only call 
your attention to the fact, that no inconsiderable portion of the legislation 
of Ohio, for several years, costing the state large sums of money, has 
grown out of efforts to secure to the colored man equal social and politi- 
cal privileges. If this be a legitimate object upon which to spend the 
public money, then is our application legitimate ; because all the privi- 
leges claimed for the colored man, by his most ardent friends, will be 
at once secured to him on his landing in Liberia. 

In laying before you, gentlemen, the foregoing facts, and in committing 
our cause into your hands, we trust that the world will not be able to say, 
that Monarchies are more generous than Democracies — that the former 
are more potent for good, beyond their own limits, than the latter — that 
the one gives, freely, its hundreds of thousands of pounds sterling, to 
alleviate human suffering and advance the cause of humanity, while the 
other refuses even a penny. 



C. P. McIlvaine, Cincinnati, 

John T. Brooke, " 
N. L. Rice, 

Samuel R. Wilson, " 

Samuel W. Fisher, " 

James P. Kilbreth, " 

Alexander Gut, " 

RuFUs King, " 



E. G. Robinson, Cincinnati, 

Thomas Parrott, Dayton, 

J. W. Hall, 

James Hoge, Columbus, 

Reuben Wood, " 

H. H. Leavitt, Steubenville, 

H. G. CoMINGO, " 



Ohio Committee of Corresponderice, of the American Colonization Society. 
January 8, 1851. 



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